Before his appearance in The Deerslayer, Bumppo went by the aliases of "Straight-Tongue," "The Pigeon," and the "Lap-Ear." After buying his first rifle, he gained the name of "Deerslayer." He is subsequently known as "Hawkeye" and "La Longue Carabine" in The Last of the Mohicans, "Pathfinder" in The Pathfinder, "Leatherstocking" in The Pioneers, from which the collective title for all the novels is drawn, and "the trapper" in The Prairie.

Thomas King's 1993 novel Green Grass, Running Water satirizes the character of Natty Bumppo by renaming him Nasty Bumppo and having him shoot himself (while he attempts to shoot his friend, Chingachgook).

The character of Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H takes his nickname from the Native American name given to Natty Bumppo. In both TV series and the original novel on which it is based, it is stated that The Last of the Mohicans is the only book Pierce's father had ever read.

Bumppo is known as Dan'l "Hawkeye" Bonner in Sara Donati's series, meant as a sequel to The Last of the Mohicans books, beginning with Into The Wilderness. The series centers around Hawkeye and Cora's son, Nathaniel Bonner.

Bumppo is featured in the comic book series Jack of Fables, both in name and as "Hawkeye", along with Slue-Foot Sue (Pecos Bill's first wife).

Near the end of Mississippi Jack, the fifth in the best-selling Bloody Jack series of female adventures by L.A. Meyer, an adopted white Shawnee called Lightfoot, a rifleman who always travels with his native Shawnee "brother," reveals his white surname to be "Bumpus" in an obvious tribute to Cooper's Natty Bumppo. Thinly veiled or unveiled characters from the history and culture of the time of the novels are a repeating feature of the Bloody Jack book series.

Natty Bumppo was the name of several pop music bands in the 1970s, including bands from Dayton, Ohio and central Utah.

The Marvel Comics character Hawkeye takes his name from Natty Bumppo, who he portrayed during his time as a carnival marksman before becoming a superhero.

The "Hawkeye" is the mascot of the University of Iowa and was taken from The Last of the Mohicans novel.[5]

Song of the Mohicans, written by Paul Block in 1995, is a direct sequel to Last of the Mohicans. Taking up the story a few days after Uncas' death and burial, it recounts the adventures of Hawkeye and Chingachgook as they travel north to discover the connection between an Oneida brave and the Mohican tribe and whether a sachem truly holds the key to the ultimate fate of the Mohicans.

Natty Bumppo is featured in the Marvel comic Deadpool Killustrated, as part of a group of time travelling heroes (Beowulf, Hua Mulan, Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson), intent on stopping Deadpool from killing all literary characters.

Tinker, a major character in Amor Towles novel, "Rules of Civility", wants to be Natty Bumppo for the day.

There is an intelligent dog named Natty Bumppo in John Brunner's novel "Shockwave Rider".

Natty Bumppo appears as a character in The 8th book of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, "Written In My Own Hearts Blood" published June 10, 2014.

^James Fenimore Cooper Society's online plot summaries of the chronologically first (The Deerslayer)[1] and last (The Prairie)[2] novels, indicating the initial and final years of the Leatherstocking saga.